After updating your resum• and networking with your engineering colleagues and other business associates, you line up a couple of job interviews. Unquestionably, the interview is the one chance to impress your potential employer and land the job of your dreams. On the contrary, it also can be one of the most discouraging and demeaning events of your life.
With that in mind, before you head off to that first interview, there are some basic principles you should brush up on. It may have been several years since you applied for a job, and your interviewing skills might be somewhat rusty.
The folks at TheLadder.com, an online job search service for professionals in the $100,000+ salary range, have put together a list of sins that you must avoid in the interview. Called the Seven Deadly Sins of Interviewing,• they are, as you might imagine, pride, sloth, greed, gluttony, wrath, lust, and envy.
As profiled on their website, pride is an excessive love of self. You have years of experience, you ve earned respect in your field, but any arrogance will come back to bite you. Treat everyone at the company with respect and kindness. Sloth is characterized by laziness, idleness, and wastefulness. Don t wing it during the interview. Prepare informed questions. The level of your questions should match your experience. Show knowledge of your potential employer's business and industry.
An excessive quest for money and power is greed. The first order of business is to receive an offer, and then you can negotiate the terms. In the first interview, you are being judged on your experience and abilities; therefore, salary and perks should not be the focal points of discussion. Gluttony, as everyone knows, is the desire to consume more than you need. TheLadders.com point is that a good interview depends on the rapport you develop with the interviewer. She is trying to learn about your skills, experiences, and ability to succeed in the job, not your entire life's history.
Don t badmouth your previous bosses, which falls under the sin of wrath. Your interviewer identifies more with your past bosses than with you. She wants to see how you ll perform in her company, and an attack on a previous boss could be threatening to her.
Discussing your personal interests or passions may humanize you, but focusing too much attention on outside activities may dash your hopes for employment. Being envious of what you don't have now is not what the interviewer wants to hear. If asked where you see yourself in five years, focus your remarks on moving up in the organization.
Avoiding these sins is obvious to most of you, but sometimes a light-hearted refresher on how to prepare for and act during an interview helps us to focus better on the task. If you are contemplating a career move, keeping these sins at bay might help you to land that ideal position.
